At the APEC CEO Summit, NVIDIA said it is working with public agencies and private companies to build sovereign AI infrastructure across South Korea. The plan includes hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs across sovereign clouds and AI factories for areas like automotive, manufacturing and telecommunications.
“Korea’s leadership in technology and manufacturing positions it at the heart of the AI industrial revolution — where accelerated computing infrastructure becomes as vital as power grids and broadband,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Just as Korea’s physical factories have inspired the world with sophisticated ships, cars, chips and electronics, the nation can now produce intelligence as a new export that will drive global transformation.”
“Now that AI has gone beyond mere innovation and become the foundation of future industries, South Korea stands at the threshold of transformation,” said Bae Kyung-hoon, Korea Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Science and Information and Communication Technologies.
The government plans to deploy up to 50,000 new NVIDIA GPUs to support sovereign AI programs for businesses and research groups. The first phase includes 13,000 NVIDIA Blackwell and other GPUs through providers such as NAVER Cloud, NHN Cloud and Kakao. The expansion includes efforts to build a National AI Computing Center. Startups, researchers and other organisations will be able to use this sovereign infrastructure to train models and build new applications.
NVIDIA is also working with Samsung, SK Telecom, ETRI, KT, LGU+ and Yonsei University on AI-RAN and 6G network research. The work focuses on shifting some computing tasks from devices to network base stations, which may reduce battery drain and lower computing costs across sovereign AI services.
Major companies build sovereign AI factories
Large corporations in Korea are investing in advanced AI infrastructure for chip production, network operations and digital manufacturing tools that support the country’s sovereign computing goals.
NVIDIA and Samsung plan to build a new AI factory that connects chip manufacturing with accelerated computing. The system will run more than 50,000 NVIDIA GPUs and support data-driven production methods, including predictive maintenance and process improvements across chip fabs.
“We are at the dawn of the AI industrial revolution — a new era that will redefine how the world designs, builds and manufactures,” said Jensen Huang. Jay Y. Lee, executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, added, “From Samsung’s DRAM for NVIDIA’s game-changing graphics card in 1995 to our new AI factory, we are thrilled to continue our longstanding journey with NVIDIA in leading this transformation.”
Samsung plans to use NVIDIA CUDA-X libraries, along with software from Synopsys, Cadence and Siemens, to speed circuit design and manufacturing workflows. It will also use NVIDIA Omniverse to create digital twins of factories and equipment for real-time simulation, testing and logistics planning — all supporting wider sovereign AI adoption.
NVIDIA’s cuLitho library is being integrated into Samsung’s computational lithography tools. The collaboration has led to major gains in performance, supporting faster scaling in chip production.
Samsung is also developing large language models that run across hundreds of millions of Samsung devices, supporting translation and other reasoning tasks. The company plans to expand into robotics using NVIDIA Isaac Sim, NVIDIA Cosmos and the Jetson Thor edge platform, which may strengthen its position in sovereign AI systems.
SK Group expands AI capacity
SK Group is building an AI factory that will include more than 50,000 NVIDIA GPUs, with completion expected by late 2027. The facility will support SK subsidiaries and outside clients through GPU-as-a-service offerings that align with South Korea’s sovereign AI strategy. NVIDIA and SK are also working together on next-generation high-bandwidth memory for GPUs.
“SK Group is working with NVIDIA to make AI the engine of a profound transformation that will enable industries across Korea to transcend traditional limits of scale, speed and precision,” said Chey Tae-Won, chairman of SK Group.
SK Telecom plans to build an industrial AI cloud using NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs. The platform will support semiconductor manufacturing, digital twins and internal AI agents.
SK hynix is using NVIDIA PhysicsNeMo tools to support chip design simulations, aiming to improve accuracy and speed. It is also testing NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs with Synopsys software and building autonomous fab digital twins.
To support workers, SKT is developing a foundation model called A.X., built with NVIDIA NIM microservices and NVIDIA AI Enterprise. The model will power internal agents to assist thousands of employees across chip development and operations.
Hyundai Motor Group plans new AI factory
NVIDIA and Hyundai Motor Group are expanding their partnership to support autonomous driving, factory automation and robotics. Hyundai plans to build an AI factory using NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs for integrated training, simulation and deployment.
“AI is revolutionising every facet of every industry, and in transportation alone — from vehicle design and manufacturing to robotics and autonomous driving — NVIDIA’s AI and computing platforms are transforming how the world moves,” said Jensen Huang.
The companies expect joint investment of about $3 billion to grow national physical AI capabilities. The plan includes an NVIDIA AI Technology Center, Hyundai’s Physical AI Application Center and new data centres. These programs aim to help train a new generation of AI talent.
Hyundai will use NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise to build digital twins of factories, supporting virtual testing, robot integration and predictive maintenance. It will also use NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor for in-vehicle AI systems, including driver assistance and infotainment features.
Growth of sovereign AI models
NAVER Cloud plans to deploy more than 60,000 GPUs for sovereign and physical AI work. The company will build industry-targeted models for areas such as shipbuilding and public safety.
The Ministry of Science and ICT is also leading a Sovereign AI Foundation Models project using NVIDIA NeMo and open Nemotron datasets. Partners include LG AI Research, NC AI, SK Telecom and Upstage. These models will support language and reasoning tasks.
LG is working with NVIDIA on physical AI research and will support startups and researchers using its EXAONE models, including healthcare applications.
Quantum and scientific research
KISTI plans to use NVIDIA accelerated computing in its sixth national supercomputer, HANGANG. The institute will support NVQLink, an open architecture for connecting quantum processors with GPU clusters. It will also develop scientific foundation models and explore physics-informed AI tools using NVIDIA PhysicsNeMo.
NVIDIA and local partners are forming a startup alliance through the NVIDIA Inception program. Members will gain access to accelerated computing resources from cloud partners like SK Telecom, along with support from venture firms. NVIDIA also plans to take part in the N-Up AI startup incubation program from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
(Photo by Nvidia)
See also: Migrating AI from Nvidia to Huawei: Opportunities and trade-offs
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